[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 104 (Monday, June 19, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3605-S3606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO DR. M. LYNNE CORN

  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I would like to take the opportunity to 
submit to the Record of the U.S. Senate a statement to celebrate the 
career of public service of Dr. M. Lynne Corn, offer my heartfelt 
congratulations on the occasion of her retirement from the 
Congressional Research Service, and wish her happiness and prosperity 
in the next chapter of her life.
  For over three decades, Dr. Corn dedicated the better portion of her 
professional career to serving the Congress of the United States from 
within the halls of the Library of Congress. As a specialist in the 
study of natural resources, Federal land management, earth sciences, 
agriculture, and endangered, species recovery, she has guided and 
informed the decisionmaking of countless Members of Congress and 
Senators, and their staffs, on the major, related issues of her time.
  As a Senator representing the State of Utah and as a Westerner, her 
policy acumen has on countless occasions aided legislative efforts that 
have had a substantial impact on my constituency. She has served as an 
invaluable guide in the drafting of legislation and helped inform some 
of the most difficult votes I have cast, and I can say without question 
that she has helped guide the process of passing some of the most 
difficult pieces of legislation into law. As well, as some of my most 
senior staff can attest, she leaves her position with a reputation of 
being among the most informed and insightful research and policy 
advisors on Capitol Hill.
  Let the record show that Dr. Corn began working at the Congressional 
Research Service in 1985, after having served for almost 6 years in a 
congressional office, including as an AAAS--American Association for 
the Advancement of Science--congressional science fellow from 1979 to 
1980. Dr. Corn came to Capitol Hill after sharing her enthusiasm for 
the ecology of all types of animals and plants with students at 
Middlebury College, VT; Stockton State College, NJ; and Arizona State 
University.
  Dr. Corn adeptly transitioned from pedagogy to informing 
congressional deliberations on policy development, especially related 
to the Endangered Species Act. Although her doctoral research at 
Harvard University was related to a tropical ant species, Congress put 
her biological expertise to work researching and writing on the Pacific 
Northwest's spotted owl and the species and habitat of the Arctic 
National Wildlife Refuge. Dr. Corn also became an expert in various 
conservation related trust funds, as well as the Payments in Lieu of 
Taxes program, which is critical to the rural inhabitants of my home 
state of Utah. Dr. Corn excelled in the use of visual aids, such as 
maps, to explain complex issues to congressional audiences.
  But the work of a congressional researcher can sometimes be more 
light-hearted. I will share one incident, as it has been told to me, 
when it was the staff that provided the visual aid. Dr. Corn was asked 
to come to a Senate office to identify a dead snake coiled in a coffee 
tin. Upon examination, she identified the snake, a corn snake, just as 
the Senator walked into the office. As a country-raised man, he knew 
well the species that was native to his region, and a memorable 
conversation with the Senator followed, about the quiddities of that 
particular species, which both the Senator and Dr. Corn

[[Page S3606]]

had caught on multiple occasions. When I learned of this incident, it 
struck me uniquely because, as it turns out, this incident occurred in 
the office of a former President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Senator 
Robert Byrd. I can say that those are the types of moments that make 
our jobs worthwhile.
  I will conclude with what is perhaps most important: Dr. Corn has 
served her country and worked with her colleagues in Congress with a 
unique charisma that has so often breathed life into the absolutely 
critical, but sometimes tedious task of researching policy decisions 
and legislation. By way of an example, there is something revealing 
about the word ``critters''--which she so often used--that reflects not 
only the authentic passion that she held for her subject area, but also 
her flare for artfully transforming arcane concepts into digestible and 
actionable information, which is a distinguished trait that Members of 
Congress so appreciably rely upon.
  Again I reiterate my gratitude for Dr. Corn's service, and I wish her 
a blessed and relaxing future, with her dearly beloved dogs, as she 
departs from her career in the Congressional Research Service.

                          ____________________